President & CEO, Boliden
Bolidens vd: ”Man kan alltid tycka att det ska bli mer”
Under morgonen rapporterade Boliden för Q2, och gruvjättens omsättning slår förväntningarna men resultatet var lägre än väntat. Bolagets vd Mikael Staffas berättar om vad som ligger bakom.
"Man kan alltid tycka att det ska bli mer", säger Mikael Staffas angående att Bolidens rörelseresultat var en halv miljard under marknadens förväntningar.
Reporter: Noel Hermansson.
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About Mikael Staffas
Mikael Staffas, President and CEO of Boliden, discussed the company's recent quarterly report in a July 2026 interview, describing it as "a pretty good report" with strong production, particularly at the Aitik mine and new Lundin units, though noting challenges at Tara and a slower-than-expected ramp-up at Odda due to a programming error causing emergency stops in a roaster furnace. He stated that Boliden's balance sheet is "very strong and good" and not under pressure, despite a weak cash flow, and emphasized that the company's diversified operations allow it to manage issues like those at Garpenberg, which he said would risk bankruptcy as a standalone entity. In a May 2026 podcast, Staffas described his role as managing approximately 100 responsibilities across production, environment, people, and government relationships, stating that "you cannot do any of them wrong" without causing a major problem. He criticized Finland for lacking a coherent industrial policy, saying decisions "come out of nowhere" and are not consistent, and called for a stable policy that would survive multiple elections to support mining and metal processing investments, noting that Boliden had a "billion euro on the table" for further investment at Kevitsa.
Transcript (16 segments)
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Interviewer0:12
Boliden reported this morning and shows increased revenues and a rising operating profit. To go through the report more carefully, we have the company's CEO Mikael Staffas on the line. Mikael, what are your initial thoughts on the second quarter?
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Mikael Staffas0:30
There is a lot to say about the second quarter. But you have to remember that we have quite a lot of items affecting comparability that mess things up a bit, with insurance settlements and the start-up of Tara. But if you take that away, we have a good quarter. We had major planned maintenance shutdowns that went completely according to plan and functioned well and positioned us well for the rest of the year. We have had good production really everywhere except the mine in Gallivare. We have had better prices and the krona has also helped us positively through the quarter.
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Interviewer1:05
If we look a bit at your figures, both revenue and operating profit were stronger this quarter compared to last year, but the operating profit landed at 4 billion, which was somewhat below analysts' expectations of 4.5 billion. Why was the operating result not higher?
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Mikael Staffas1:22
Well, you can always think it should be more. But there are two things to remember, and those of you who don't know Boliden so well might not know this: that we have a lot of metal value going through our system and we have an internal profit elimination that can hit quite hard depending on how deliveries and such are timed, and it hit a bit negatively this quarter. It is very difficult for analysts to predict that. And the other part is that Aitik has not performed as well as Aitik should. Those are the two parts. Otherwise, I don't usually like comparing with analysts so much. You could say it is an opinion around what they think it should be. It is better to compare with how it has gone before. And as you said, we have significantly better results than both the corresponding quarter last year and the previous quarter here in Q1.
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Interviewer2:10
Yes, that's right. And 2023 was a tough year for you. The Tara mine in Ireland was put on care and maintenance and you had the extensive fire at the Ronskar smelter. How is it after that?
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Mikael Staffas2:24
Well, Ronskar started producing anodes quite quickly and has done so during the year and had good production of anodes here in Q2. Then we need to build the electrolytic refinery and that project has been approved here and we have started with earthworks during the second quarter. That is a big project of nearly 5 billion and it will then be ready for delivery during the second half of 2026, so it is quite a long time before we get cathodes there. However, as I said, we have received insurance settlement theories on how it works, but that has come in during Q2. At the Tara mine, we have now reached an agreement with our local unions. We have a new collective bargaining agreement and we are now working during Q3 to bring in the staff, which will decrease from 600 to 400 people. We will have a new way of working, which means quite a lot of training for the staff returning, to then be able to start producing a little during Q4, but really full production in Q1.
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Interviewer3:35
You touched a bit on your insurance money here. In this quarter, you have a revenue of 2.4 billion kronor in the form of insurance money after the fire last year. How do this money affect the quarter?
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Mikael Staffas3:49
It is exactly as you say. It is 2.4 billion that has come in as revenue just this quarter and that of course affects the result positively. Of those 2.4 billion, 600 million was actually paid out. The remaining 1.8 billion will be paid out in pace with the investments we make during the rest of the year and next year. I can also mention that there is another so-called primary layer with another insurance company for another billion. We are not completely there in the discussion with the insurance company yet, so that one will come later this year or early next year.
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Interviewer4:33
Are you satisfied with the sum otherwise?
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Mikael Staffas4:38
Well, you could say that when you have a cap in the insurance of 2.4 billion and you get 2.4 billion, it is hard not to be satisfied.
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Interviewer4:46
Sounds good. There was a legal change at the beginning of July regarding permitting processes for mines. Can you tell us a bit about what it is about and how it will affect you going forward?
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Mikael Staffas4:57
Yes, the change has to do with how Natura 2000 permits are to be handled in the long process of getting a new mine, which we think has become completely crazy. And we also got many others to think so, and therefore the law was changed. Now that the law is changed, it means that it will be easier to get so-called exploitation concession, which is an important step in developing a mine. We have both the Laver mine and the Nautanen mine, or the deposits I should say, the Laver deposit and the Nautanen deposit, where we either have or will in the coming days apply for an exploitation concession, which with the new legislation we should be able to get. Then there is still quite a lot of work left because this Natura 2000 permit must still be applied for, but that comes later in the process. Environmental permits must also be applied for, but that also comes later. So it is clear there are still a number of years before there can be mines at these two locations, but it means that the projects can start up again and we can begin the development of them.
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Interviewer5:56
Mikael, if we look a bit ahead to the coming quarters, prices for copper are expected to increase. Are you optimistic about your future revenues and profitability?
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Mikael Staffas6:06
I will be cautious and say that in the short term, and in our world short term is the next few years, prices and conditions can go in any direction. They can go up and they can go down, and it depends on many factors that have nothing to do with the industry. But if you look a bit longer, if you look three to five years out, it looks very good for us. There is a good fundamental demand surplus linked to the transition of the economy, linked to the climate situation, and linked to electrification. There will be a need for primarily copper, and that is the known thing everyone is talking about, but there will also be a need for more zinc, more nickel, and even more lead to handle the electrification situation we will have going forward. So the demand side looks good. The supply side is as it can be now, limited, which of course is good for the price level of the metals from our side. And that's all we have time for.
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Interviewer7:00
Thank you very much, Mikael Staffas, for being with us.
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Mikael Staffas7:02
Thank you.